Carpenter bees

13 years ago

We have a series of three small carpenter bee holes on the North side of my garage right under the roof. We had them treated before with some sort of dust but alas they seem to come back every year (I believe it is in their behavior to inhabit previously drilled nests). I have thought about hiring an exterminator and was told by one to suck them all out with a vacuum at dusk or in the wee hours of the morning (when the female is less likely to sting), spray them in the vacuum and spray their nest and then seal the holes with liquid nails or new painted wood and there will be nothing else to worry about.

A neighbor who used an exterminator for a similar job a while back was told that you need to get in the nest in the "gallery" and scrape the bee eggs out or make sure they are born and active outside of the nest otherwise they just borrow out if trapped and could borrow holes into the living space of your house or attic and make more of a mess.

Anybody have any ideas or experience?

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Comments (5)

alphonse
13 years ago
There used to be a product called Di-all or the like that was mixed into paint, including latex. Very effective at eliminating carpenter bees.
An exterminator said paint alone is a deterrent. IMO, not so much.
sombreuil_mongrel
13 years ago
I have a white pine table/benches I use on the back porch. It was originally unpainted, and that was an inducement to the carpenter bees. And no fun for the people sitting at the table!
I used bee spray into the holes. The bees retreated and had their demise. I used bondo to fill the holes, and finished painting over all of the wood with oil enamel. No bees since then.
Casey
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mike_kaiser_gw
13 years ago
Couple of articles that might help you:

Penn State

University of Kentucky
321matt
12 years ago
How to get rid of carpenter bees. www.carpenterbeesdrill.com

Here is a link that might be useful: www.carpenterbeesdrill.com
shadetree_bob
12 years ago
I mix up a batch of double strength insecticide and spray it in the hole after all the bees are in for the night and then plug it with caulk, the paintable type. Has worked for me every time so far. Here in East Texas we have a lot of these pests and I have to deal with them on a regular basis. So far none of them have tunneled out and they have not returned to the old holes.